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Proverbs 28:7
Comments
Are not a father and a son two separate people? Then why does the conduct of the one reflect so strongly on the other? Because God has placed children in the care of parents at a vital stage in their lives and given parents such authority over their children and such influence on the development of their character that the behaviour of the child is to be traced back directly to the upbringing they have received from their parents, and from the father in particular who is ultimately responsible for regulating the home. Children must be conscious of this and it is a motive for living in a lawful and orderly way that their lives either enhance or detract from the honour of their fathers. A child that loves his father and cares about his reputation will not want to shame him by disgraceful living. Conscience does not forget the good training we have received in the past. Conscience is thankful for the all it has received. Conscience is aware that we live to each other, and our lives affect and reflect upon each other, none more than our parents. A companion of riotous men doesn’t care about anything except his own pleasure. He has crossed a line and abandoned integrity without any expectation of recovery. His conscience warned him that he was about to break God’s commandment, but he thrust it aside and pressed on because he must satisfy his lusts. Worthless men attract him because they too have shut their ears to the voice of conscience and are living free from the constraint of the law of God. They have a superficial cheerfulness about them but only because they have set aside the consequences of their sin. Their pleasure will last only a short time. They are all dead men, and dead men do not make good companions. This son has silenced conscience once in order to join them, and why should he start to listen to it again? What is the end of this path? It leads to death; it slides down into the lowest hell, and respect to his father’s instruction might have halted the decline before it got going.
Application
It is the kindness of fathers to discipline their children to keep them back from death. It is the wisdom of sons to listen to instruction and warning and take it very seriously. Children are to honour their fathers and mothers, and certainly this means that they live in a way that does not bring shame on them.
How do we choose our friends? Do we observe them and study the principles that govern their lives before we form close friendships? A wise person prays about the friendships they form, knowing that those friends will have a much larger influence on their lives than others they know. A Christian makes his closest friend those who know the Lord and have a tender conscience.
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